Google moves Gmail to HTTPS-only connection and encrypts all data between data centers

Google has boosted Gmail’s security measures in an effort to ensure nobody can listen in on your messages as they go back and forth between you and Gmail’s servers, even if you are on public Wi-Fi or logging in from a public machine.

To do this, the service now will always use an encrypted HTTPS connection when checking or sending e-mails according to a blog post on the matter.

The search giant said Gmail has supported HTTPS since the day it launched and made it the default in 2010. Up to that point, the choice was left up to the end user because HTTPS can make e-mail slower as encrypted data doesn’t travel as quickly across the web as unencrypted data.

What’s more, Google also said that 100 percent of every single message you send or receive is now encrypted when moving internally. This means that messages will be safe and secure not only between you and Google but as they move between Google’s data centers. Google said they made this a top priority after last year’s revelations.

They’re of course referring to leaked documents from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden regarding a program known as Muscular. Operated jointly by the NSA and Britain’s GCHQ, the program was reportedly able to tap into the main communications links that connect data centers belonging to the world’s largest Internet companies like Google and Yahoo.